Raymond Firth interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 8th July 1983
0:00:07 Anthropology was a hobby at first. As a schoolboy in New Zealand became interested in the Maori people and learnt a certain amount of Maori; first piece of fieldwork was on economics of rural populations in New Zealand; came to England with thoughts of following a career in economics but decided on anthropology
0:01:17 Had gone to the L.S.E. and deliberated for six months between economics and anthropology; interested in relating economics to the study of the Maori; found a copy of Malinowski’s ‘Argonauts’ in a bookshop and realized that it was possible
0:01:55 At L.S.E teacher was Malinowski; Seligman was there; attended Hobhouse’s seminar; Talcott Parsons there and attended Malinowski’s seminar
0:02:40 Attracted by Malinowski’s intellectual vitality, felt he was an international scholar; in his seminar intent on examining the problem posed by the presentation
0:04:23 Also influenced by Evans-Pritchard; they were complementary to each other
0:05:34 Chose to work in Tikopia as wanted to see a Polynesian society relatively uninfluenced by Western contact; might have gone to Rennell Island where Radcliffe-Brown had sent Hogbin; Tikopia interesting as non-monetary society which still retained large element of pagan religion; taught him something about the nature of reciprocity
0:10:32 Of later fieldwork, the Malay work done with Rosemary Firth, was most interesting; division of labour, Raymond looked at fishing economy and Rosemary did the domestic economy, complementing each other
0:12:25 Most interested in the economic field, but also interested in religion and art
0:13:50 If starting now would probably follow the same interests in anthropology; studies of process rather than structure; questions of responsibility and decision-making; anthropology applies, as a discipline, to all human societies
0:16:10 Psychic union of mankind; personal friendships with those studied; codes and language
0:18:08 Given life again, would choose to be an anthropologist